End of Days Version 2
by Vile Twitch
Summary: Halo BSG2003 The Twelve Colonies of Kobol make the mistake of getting themselves involved in the greatest war that the Human race has ever faced. Will the Galactic civilizations be able to pull themselves together or is this truly the End of Days
1. The Incident

End of Days (V2)

Disclaimer: I don't own BSG or Halo (But I will own your but if we meet on Xbox live)

AN: The idea for this story came from a review from VampiricAnt to Bob Regent's story entitled Reunions are A Bitch The reviewer commented on how screwed the colonials would be if they where messing with the UNSC or The United Earth Directorate,(Instead of Stargate like in Bob's story) and as I know nothing about Star Craft but love Halo. I decided to go for it. I tried to find a way to make the UNSC the aggressors in this story but I really couldn't see them picking a fight with the Covenant baring down on them.

**Changes to Halo timeline**: This is after Halo 2 but I am ignoring Halo 3. That is not to say that things like the Ark don't exist only that Halo 2 went differently. Halo 2 went as it did in the game **until **the meeting of the Chief, Arbiter and Gravemind. At the end of their conversation, it was the Arbiter not the Chief who was transported to High Charity by the Gravemind. What transpired afterwards will be explained throughout the story. But this is important there is **No **Human-Sangheili alliance (at this time) as it was the Chief that saved Keyes and Johnson and killed Tartarus. The flood never seized the In Amber Clad and the humans used it to escape. Also the events in the book Ghosts of Onyx did not happen.(planet Onyx does exist) No Spartans III either(Colonel Ackerson has been working on a…different… project). Halsey didn't kidnap Kelly instead she returned to Earth with the Spartans.

* * *

**PROLOG**

* * *

**1334 hours, November 7, 2552 (Military Calendar) / UNSC In Amber Clad, Location Unknown.**

Tearing its way out of slipspace the UNSC In Amber Clad created a blinding nova of white light and hard radiation. Despite this the transition for the 127 surviving members of the In Amber Clad's crew back to 'real' space was surprisingly gentle. As the In Amber Clad exited into normal space it became blaringly obvious that all was not well for the small vessel. Large sections of the vessels outer skin appeared to have been melted off exposing several of the vessels hallways to space. A particular nasty wound existed where one of the primary magnetic coils for the MAC resided.

The frigate class to which the In Amber Clad belonged is the smallest UNSC class to boost a MAC. The MAC, Magnetic Accelerator Cannon, was the main weapon of the UNSC. Through a series of Magnetic coils - the number depending on the size of the vessel - a large super dense ferric tungsten round was fired at tremendous velocity. The largest MAC, like those stationed on orbital defense platforms (ODP), are capable of putting a round clean through a Covenant capital ship. The MAC onboard frigates however where nowhere near this powerful and at most the frigate could hope is to take down the shields of a Covenant warship allowing its remaining armaments to finish off the vessel. In addition to the MAC, frigates also boasted 26 missile pods, each of which held thirty Archer high explosive missiles, eight strategically placed 50mm auto cannons protected the vessel from enemy fighters and bombers. The frigate's outer skin, composed of high density titanium-A armor, was only 60cm thick but lesser armor equated to a lower tonnage making the frigate class the fastest and most maneuverable of any UNSC warship.

"Report." Commander Miranda Keyes ordered.

"Shaw-Fujikawa Translight drive has been disengaged," Cortana replied appearing on the holo pad next to the commander's chair. "The engineering crew is already initiating a full restart hopefully it will eliminate the abnormal readings the drive is giving off."

"How long till the restart is complete." Keyes questioned impatiently. While the trip to the second Halo ring was far faster then she ever dreamed possible, without the Covenant carrier to pull the ship through slipspace the return trip was anything but short. And with the precarious situation back home every second counted.

"The deuterium fusion cores are already hot so we just have to wait for the drive to reboot." Cortana explained, "If that fixes the irregularities we should be able to resume our journey in roughly an hour."

"Roughly Cortana?" Keyes questioned.

"Sorry ma'am but the rebooting process requires the assistance of human hands, and no offense ma'am but humans have a tendencies to disrupt my time tables." Cortana replied shrugging her digital shoulders.

Smirking the Commander choose not to comment. "Anything in the vicinity I should be aware of."

"Negative ma'am, we're currently in the void between stars, nearest star system well over a light year away, at this range I can confirm several planets in the system. I'm also detecting a large asteroid near our position, well over ten kilometers in length"

"Understood. Any luck getting the MAC back online."

"Unfortunately no, there is simply to much damage to the system, one of the magnetic accelerators was vaporized by the plasma torpedoed impact, fracturing the barrel in the process. The entire MAC will have to be replaced when we reach Earth."

"Cortana what is your honest assessment of the Clad's combat capabilities." Keyes asked.

"Not good Ma'am. In addition to the MAC being beyond repair we only have archer pods u thru z. We have two C709 Longsword fighters left. The only bright side is we have one Shiva nuclear warhead left."

"I see," Commander Keyes replied her eyes locked on a small data screen built into her chair as it displayed the damage inflicted on the Clad. "The crew?" To human ears the commanders question sounded calm and normal but to the Cortana and her highly accurate microphones situated throughout the bridge the wariness in her voice was obvious.

"They are do as well as can be excepted. Of the original 230 crew 103 are dead, mostly marines, and the rest are suffering from wounds of varying severity." Cortana replied solemnly.

"How's the Chief?"

Although several people onboard the frigate could be referred to as 'Chief' it was still obvious who she was referring to.

"He's fine, been spending his time helping wit…" Cortana trailed off getting a far away look.

"Cortana." Miranda Keyes asked worriedly.

"Sorry ma'am for a moment I though a detected a strange energy reading near the asteroid. But with the longer range sensors in the shape they are its unlikely to be anything."

"Still best not to take any chances," Keyes replied. "Helm bring us closer to that rock. Take the safeties off the nuke."

"Aye Commander," the helmsman replied.

"Ma'am," Cortana interjected, "you do realize that if the energy surge was a slipstream event we…"

"Could be running headlong at a Covenant warship," Keyes finished fro her, "but if there's a Covenant warship in this system we're already dead, no matter what direction we go in."

* * *

**NEARBY SEVERAL MINUTES LATER**

"Commander on deck!" Colonel Vincent Strong's voice bellowed throughout the Battlestar Cerberus CIC bringing an immediate halt to all activity as the crew came to attention.

"At ease," Commander David Sinclair replied off-handedly as he took his place next to his XO by the main DRADIS display. "Report."

"Sorry to wake you sir but on of our Raptors just returned ahead of schedule." Colonel Strong replied.

"Why?" Sinclair asked.

"They encountered an unknown vessel and jumped as soon as they got a good look at it," the Colonel replied. "Here," he handed the Commander a printout of the blurry picture taken by the recon raptor.

"…"

"Tiny little thing," the Colonel commented. "Only about 500 meters long."

"Any chance this is from the Colonies?"

"Anything is possible sir, but highly unlikely. That ship is less than half a light year from the Cylon armistice line. Even we don't get that close."

"Cylon scout maybe?"

"Maybe sir, but its not a design I recognize."

Several moments passed as the Commander studied the picture of the unknown ship.

"Dispatch a Raptor to Picon let them know we have encountered an unknown ship."

"Sir in the time it takes the Raptor to make it back to Picon that ship may be gone."

"That's why we're going there to check it out ourselves," Commander Sinclair replied setting the picture on the command table. "Recall the Vipers and single the Reliant."

"The Reliant sir."

"I know its overkill with such a small vessel," the Commander explained, "but that close to the boarder I'll feel safer with two battlestars instead of one."

* * *

**1354 hours, November 7, 2552 (Military Calendar) / UNSC In Amber Clad, Location Unknown.**

"Contact!" The shout went out bringing the bridge of the In Amber Clad to a dead halt.

"Report," Commander Keyes ordered turning from the view port where she had been studying the large asteroid less then two kilometers away.

"Two ships unknown class, they just appeared, closing _slowly_ on our position, I'm trying to narrow the sensor rea… wow."

"Lieutenant report."

"Sorry Commander its just that each of the ships is well over 1500 meters long."

Commander Keyes felt her blood run cold, 1500 meters, as big as a Marathon-class cruiser, three times the size of her damaged frigate.

"Covenant?" she asked dreading the answer

"Negative ma'am," Cortana answered as she appeared. "I have compared the vessel to all known Covenant ships, the basic design doesn't even come close, here look." Cortana said as she vanished from the holo pad being replaced by an incomplete 3D image of the unknown ships.

Commander Keyes leaned forward in her chair studying the vessels, they were defiantly not Covenant in fact they looked almost Human. Two large pods with what looked like hanger doors were attached to the vessels main body, possibly indicting that it was some form of carrier.

"Commander the lead vessel is broadcasting but not on any standard frequencies."

"Cortana," Keyes said.

"One moment ma'am," Cortana replied. "That can't be right."

"What is it?"

"The transmission is in a bastardize version of Greek."

"Greek?" Keyes eyebrows rose in surprise, "are you sure."

"Positive," Cortana replied.

Miranda Keyes fell back heavily into her chair not sure what to think. Here they where in the depths of uncharted space encountering two ships of alien design that apparently spoke in a now dead Earth language. _What the Hell_.

"Cortana what do they say."

"My language subroutines are having a hard time with their version of Greek but from what I can tell they are identifying themselves as the starbattle or battlestar Cerberus. They say they are from the… Twelve Lands of Kobol. Ma'am with your permission I wish to make contact. If I can get them to say more I can refine my translation programs."

"Very well Cortana… but keep it simple," Keyes added as an afterthought.

* * *

**Battlestar Cerberus**

"Repeat. This is the Battlestar Cerberus of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol to unknown vessel. Identify yourselves immediately. Repeat. This is the Battlestar Cerberus…"

"Anything?"

"Negative Commander," Colonel Strong replied. "Should we launch Vipers, maybe that will make them more talkative."

"Negative Colonel. So far they have done nothing hostile and if its just some lost civilian ship we don't want to cause an incident. We have enough problems wi…"

"I've got something."

"Let's hear it," Commander Sinclair ordered.

Almost immediately a female's voice crackled out of the CIC speakers.

"To craft Cerberus this is Clad in Amber."

"Clad in Amber," Colonel Strong muttered. "What the hell kind of name is that. And what's with the accent."

"No idea but their speaking Colonial standard… kind of." Commander Sinclair replied as he picked up the black handset from its secure holster next to the DRADIS display. "Clad in Amber from what colony do you hail?"

"Starbattle Cerberus from Colonials not, hail from Earth."

A pin could be heard dropping in the CIC of the Cerberus.

"The Lost Tribe," Colonel said flabbergasted, "Imposable! It's a myth."

"Maybe not," the Commander muttered. "Clad in Amber to whom am I speaking?"

"Cortana."

"Do you have a rank?"

"No AI resident of Clad in Amber."

"AI?" The Commander asked.

A moment in time passed and then, "Intelligence Artificial."

… Intelligence Artificial …

… **Artificial Intelligence**…

…**Cylon!**…

Commander Sinclair slammed the handset into its holder. "LAUNCH FIGHTERS!"

* * *

**1358 hours, November 7, 2552 (Military Calendar) / UNSC In Amber Clad, Location Unknown.**

"Transmission terminated."

"Cortana what happened?" Keyes asked.

"Not sure, everything was going find and… both ships are launching fighters and picking up speed."

"What," Commanded Keyes yelled looking over at the tactical map, watching horrified as the two large red dots representing the closing capital ships became surrounded by over three hundred smaller red dots.

There was simply no way in Commander Keyes mind that her ship could survive such an overwhelming force. Her only hope was to hold out long enough to get the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight drive back online. But it seemed unlikely that these aliens were going to give her the time. "Cortana how long till we can enter slipspace?"

"Twenty minutes."

_Not good._ She needed to buy time but how, she couldn't hope to outrun them and there was no place in the system to hide… or was there. _The asteroid._

"Cortana get us behind the asteroid."

"Ma'am positioning the vessel behind the asteroid will inhibit our ability to maintain watch over those ships. Permission to drop our remaining Clarion spy drone."

"Granted," Keyes replied already feeling herself being pushed into her chair by the more then one million pounds of thrust the frigates engines were generating.

Before the vessel disappeared from sight of the two approaching Battlestars a small metallic hatch opened and released the vessels only remaining Clarion spy drone.

Through the Clarion spy drone Cortana was able to relay real time updates on the course and position of the incoming warships.

Commander Keyes studied the projected course lines, if they maintained their current heading and speed they would pass the asteroid in a little over fifteen minutes on opposing sides, making it imposable for the frigate to keep the asteroid between them. She then noticed something else about their course, it brought them ridiculously close to the asteroid and each other. (Unknown to the commander of the In Amber Clad the reason for this was that Battlestars became more deadly the closer to the enemy they came)

No doubt the enemy ship commanders hope to catch her small ship in a crossfire, but in their haste, Keyes realized, they made a mistake. "Cortana I have an idea."

* * *

**1408 hours, November 7, 2552 (Military Calendar) / UNSC In Amber Clad, Location Unknown.**

"Ma'am several groups of fighters have broken off from the main group and speeding towards our position, contact sixty seconds."

"Understood Cortana." Keyes replied, "Helm come to heading zero nine zero, declination zero zero zero maximum thrust," Keyes ordered. "Ready the point defense guns, arm archer pods u and v, and get a firing solution, Cortana ready the nuke.

"Aye ma'am," several people and one AI said at once.

Its position about to be compromised the frigate abandoned the safety of the asteroids shadow and blasted off into space directly away from the incoming battlestars.

Four squadrons of colonial Vipers, 20 fighters apiece, and six Raptors blew past the asteroid and dove headlong towards the retreating frigate.

"Do we have a firing solution?" Keyes asked.

"Yes Commander," the weapons office replied.

"Then fire."

Sixty archer missiles erupted from the In Amber Clad. The fighters changed their course to avoid to incoming salvo but the sophisticated guidance system easily maintained lock and in matter of seconds 38 vipers and 2 Raptors were violently destroyed. Angered by the lose of their fellow pilots the remaining Raptors and Vipers descended upon the frigate.

The three rear point defense guns controlled by Cortana herself unleashed a hellish hailstorm of bullets on the incoming fighters. Her pinpoint accuracy shredded several of the incoming Vipers with ease.

One of the incoming Raptors fired off six of its anti-ship missiles.

Seeing the danger posed by the missiles the point defense guns swiveled away from the attacking fighters and focused on the incoming missiles. They were only partially successful, five of the missiles died on route but the sixth managed to get through the hailstorm of bullets and reduced one of the Clad's point defense guns to molten slag.

Cortana, one gun down, immediately refocused her two remaining rail guns on the larger threat, namely the enemy bombers. 50mm rounds tore their way through two of the enemy bombers including the one that had fired it's missiles. Realizing the danger they where in the bombers dived away from the frigate only to run headlong into a wall of lead. As the last of the Raptors died the remaining Vipers broke and ran.

"Ma'am the fighters have been dealt with."

"Good work Cortana status of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translig…ugg." Commander Keyes was thrown violently forward, the chairs restraints painfully restricting her midsection. "Report!"

"Capital ships have opened fire, port engine has been damaged and we are venting atmosphere in several sections."

"Cortana! Do it."

The two battlestars passing by the asteroid fired full salvos as soon as the frigate came in sight, however in their haste they failed to notice a crashed ship on the asteroids surface.

The two battlestars became eclipsed by a blinding flash of white light as the eighty megaton Shiva nuclear warhead detonated vaporizing the C709 Longsword fighter and sending a massive wave of raw energy washing over the two battlestars.

"Cortana Report."

"The warships are still intact but they have stopped firing and moving. We also managed to take out most of their fighters."

"Good," Keyes sighed. "What of the Translight drive?"

"The drive restart is finished and I am not reading any abnormal readings."

"Then gets us the hell out of here."

The In Amber Clad slowly slid its way into the dark realm of slipspace leaving behind the impromptu battle field and new enemy behind.

It would be some time before the battlestars restored power to their vessels and return to the colonies. When they did cries for the dead would erupt but they would be quickly drowned out by other cries. Cries for vengeance.

Fleets gather, armies assemble, and the galaxy takes one more step closer to the End of Days.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own BSG or Halo

Sorry for any erros still looking for a beta (If any one is interested let me know)

* * *

**Caprica City Presidential Office**

Richard Adar President of the Twelve Colonies calmly sat on a large black thickly-padded leather chair his hands folded neatly on top of the near ancient wood desk that miraculously survived the burning of the presidential residence nearly fifty years ago during the initial stages of the Cylon Revolt. A young blond female aid approached him from the side and applied a thin layer of powder to Adar's forehead in order to reduce the lights glare. Another aid re-polished the bronze insignia of the Twelve Colonies to a fine bronze sheen, its brilliant luster creating an angelic halo effect over the darkly dressed president, who was calmly studying the female aid's assets.

"Ten seconds Mr. President," the chief presidential aid announced from across the room causing the aids to scurry away from the President who placed his reading glasses inside a desk draw. The room fell silent as the aid raised his hand and wordlessly began counting down, "Five… four… three… two… one," ending the countdown with a sharp finger point directed towards the president.

"My fellow Colonials," Adar began in a slow calm voice," for nearly five years, I have had the enormous privilege to serve you as president of the Quorum of Twelve. During those five years, we have seen labor strikes that nearly crippled our economy, military spending bills that resulted in the deadlock of our congress, and riots on our beloved world of Sagittaron. And from each of these crises we emerge stronger than before. Tonight I come before you to speak on a matter paramount to the Human race."

"Earth, a planet that has long lived on in our legends as the thirteenth tribe of Kobol. Many have held the belief that it was a mere myth and I admit I was one of those that doubted the lost tribe's existence. Now, however, we know the truth and that is that Earth indeed exists. You all know of the events five months ago when two of our battlestars encountered the ship claming to be from Earth identified as Clad in Amber. The crews of the battlestars where rightfully ecstatic about meeting our long lost cousins _but_," Adar paused and released a deep mournful sigh, "it did not last."

"The crews of the Reliant and Cerberus, through battle harden skills common to all our navy personal quickly discovered the existence of the Cylon controlling the In Amber Clad know only as Cortana," Adar spat the name out as one would a vile poison his eyes burning with righteous fury. "Some have argued that the Commanders of the battlestars acted rashly when they fired on the warship due to the presence of the _abomination_, However while all within the Colonies are entitled to their own opinion we must not allow the ranting of a few fools blind us to the truth."

Adar paused as his body visibly deflated from apparent sorrow, "And that truth is that our brothers and sister are now more than slaves to the sinful creations of Dr. Harvard Cylones. There is no doubt in our minds what has occurred, after we drove the vile machines from our worlds they in their exile discovered the Lost Tribe. Unable to punish us for our alleged crimes the Cylons turned their wrath on the humans of the Lost Tribe, enslaving them. Alone and unaware of the danger they faced the people of Earth were easy prey for the metallic monstrosities ."

Adar slammed his fist into the desk, "THIS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED! As I speak our forces gather above Picon, the largest fleet we have ever assembled, this force will rid the planet Earth of the vile Cylon presence! Many of our cousins will lose their lives in this act of liberation but their sacrifice is a necessary one! There is no doubt in my mind that this is the course that the Lords of Kobol wish us to take and when our sister world is freed and we stand together as one people once more we will be able to rid the universe of the Cylon menace _forever_!"

* * *

**Picon High Orbit, Battlestar Executor.**

Picon, lush and green, a jungle world floating majestically through the abyss of space. This breathtaking green orb was a beacon of life in the wastelands of space, and above this shining beacon a monstrous beast of steal and flesh prepared. Nearly five hundred Colonial Battlestars of varying classes orbited the planet in perfect formation awaiting the order to depart into the void between the stars.

Admiral John Faulknor commanding officer of the Earth Liberation Fleet resisted the impulse to rub his forehead in irritation as he listened to the presidential speech live over the ships internal speakers. The damn thing was being broadcasted across ever colony. Having read the uncensored version of the report pertaining to the encounter with the Earth ship it was easy for him to spot the man's… embellishments. Adar had made it abundantly clear that the crews of the invasion fleet heard his every word saying that it was important to fleet moral. Personally, though Faulknor believed that it had more to do with his ego wanting as many people as possible listening to his self-serving speech; only a year into his second term and it looked like he was preparing his reelection speech. An old friend of Faulkner's, once commented in passing that the only thing greater than Adar's cunning was his ego, a sentiment he couldn't help but agree with.

Seconds after the presidents wrapped up his speech the communication officer announced that Admiral Nagala was hailing the ship asking for Faulknor. Laughing internally at his superior's eagerness he removed the black handset from its secure holster next to the overhead DRADIS display.

"This is Admiral Faulknor."

"Admiral this is Nagala how are you my old friend," the gruff, but friendly, voice of the highest-ranking member of the Colonial fleet questioned over the headset.

"Fine old friend, and you?"

"No complaints…John it's time."

"I know."

"Admiral Faulknor," Nagala's voice switching from one of a close old friend to one of a strict commanding office that left no room for disobedience. "By order of the President and Quorum of Twelve, whose authority was granted to them by the Lords of Kobol, you are to lead your fleet to the lost colony of Earth and rid it of the Cylon's vile influence. The president has authorized you to use any means at your disposal, including the use of nuclear ordnance both in orbit and on the ground. Do you understand your orders Admiral Faulknor?"

"Perfectly sir."

"Then may the Lords watch over you and your ships."

Admiral Faulknor replaced the handset and looked around the CIC at his officers as their eyes bore into him each one waiting for his orders. "Single the fleet, tell them to break orbit and ready their FTL drives we're going to Earth."

As one five hundred colonial battlestars, nearly half of the Colonial fleet vanished their FTL drives bringing them towards their destiny.

* * *

**SOME TIME LATER**

**0755 hours, April 20, 2553 (Military Calendar) / Sol System, Planet Earth, Washington Industrial Zone, Armstrong Train Station.**

Old Abe, resident 'smart' AI of the Armstrong station rechecked the current status of all maglev trains incoming and out going. His main data core's internal temperature rising .001 degrees when he saw that the number seven train from Chicago was late… again. This was third time this month that that particular train was late.

Allocating an additional vendor bot to service those waiting for the train Abe debate with himself whether or not he should dispatch a formal inquire to find out why that train was constantly destroying his carefully planed schedule. After a fraction of a second, which to an AI is an eternity, Abe decided against making trouble for his fellow AI, after all Larz was merely a 'dumb' AI and couldn't be expected to perform as well as his more flexible cousin. Then again, Abe mused, Larz only had to stand watch over his train yards and not a spaceport and space elevator like Abe did. With that in mind Abe dispatched an official inquire to his fellow AI.

To say that Abe's responsibilities where large would be the equivalent of saying that Earth was an important human world. Not only did he personally run the Armstrong station which was the largest on the Easton seaboard of North America but he also maintained watch over the Washington spaceport and Washington space port, both of which were directly adjacent to the Armstrong station. Of course Abe did have some help in the form of the 'dumb' AI Tor. But with Old Abe's compunction to micro manger _everything_ some of his human superiors wondered if perhaps the AI would be better use elsewhere, but as it stood no one was really comfortable with leavening such a major transport hub in the hands of a single, albeit talented, AI. But recent events may require them transferring Tor.

The destruction of New Mombassa was a heavy blow to the already gutter level moral of both human and AI's. Old Abe himself well acquainted with the overseeing AI of the New Mombassa elevator. She was kind enough to provide Abe with some helpful tips on running the Washington elevator when he took over the job from the previous smart AI who suffered a system crash after her seven year limit was reached.

One of Abe's many subroutines alerted him that a traffic jam had developed along the main thoroughfare outside of the Washington spaceport, dispatching orders to Tor to ascertain the problem and fix it, Abe himself was focusing on the camera feeds within the train station noticing an alarming number of agitated and depressed humans milling about his station. His logic core made it clear that their moods had more to do with the war then his performance but it still upset him that despite his army of service bots, endless ranks of holo screens, and his selection of uplifting Jazz music playing throughout the station he was unable to lift the mood of his creators. Noticing a UNSC marine waiting by himself for the…late… number seven train seeming particular distressed about something. Abe was about to dispatch one of his many entertainment bots to try and raise his sprits when a priority message arrived from HIGHCOM. Opening the message he froze. It was a Code 1 alert that could only mean one thing… Covenant.

* * *

**0756 hours, April 20, 2553 (Military Calendar) / Sol System, Earth, Washington Industrial Zone, Armstrong Train Station.**

…BEEP… …BEEP… …BEEP…

Sergeant Major Avery Johnson turned away from the arguing couple standing next to him on the elevated platform and turned his attention towards the maglev train tracks hoping that the sudden beeping was the arrival of the number seven train to Chicago. Looking up and down the track he saw no sign of the transport and sighed in resignation.

…BEEP… …BEEP… …BEEP…

There it was again, the Sergeant Major glanced around the yard trying to find the source, his eyes finally came to rest on the black duffle bag at his feet. Muttering under his breath he knelt down and unzipped his bag. After a few seconds of remerging through its dark confines Avery found what he was looking for. His standard issue military PDA burned bright red with the word 'ALERT' flashing in large bold letters on the screen. Seeing it the Sergeant Major knew that his plans to use his 24hr leave to visit his Aunt's grave were ruined.

_Make me proud, do what's right._

His aunt's words echoed from beyond the grave on a constant basis. She had been so proud of him when he made it through basic, and he had been such a fool. At the time he was ready to charge headlong against the enemies of the UNSC. Then he killed for the first time, a member of the Insurrection, an 'Innie'… a sixteen year old kid. The look of shock on his face after Avery blew a hole threw his chest with his rifle still haunted the man. It was his first human kill but it certainly wasn't his last. His early years in the service where marred by an endless stream of bad Intel, suicide bombers, and dead civilians.

At the time he often questioned what he was doing in the name of the UNSC and whether it was truly worth keeping the 'Innies' in, and now years later looking back at his actions after spending thirty years defended every human life he could from those murderess bastards Avery couldn't help but feel thoroughly disgusted with himself. He sometimes wondered to himself whether or not he could ever pull the trigger on a human again.

Pushing the painful memories back he tapped the screen of his PDA, immediately the red screen was replaced by short text message.

_To: Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, Service Number 48789-20114-AJ_

_From: FLEETCOM HQ_

_Subject: __**CODE 1 ALERT**_

_Message: All leave rescinded. Report IMMEDIATELY to Washington space elevator for transition to New Washington Station. Pelican drop ship will meet you there and transport you to the Cairo._

"Damn." Avery swore as he grabbed his duffel bag and took off. Being on the Eastern side of the Armstrong station meant that he would have to cross through the entire station. Weaving his through the crowd Avery nearly tripped over a small child when the stations alarm went off.

"Attention," the deep baritone voice of the stations AI 'Old Abe' erupted from the thousand of speakers throughout the station, while his avatar appeared on the stations hundreds of holo screens, "a general alert has been issued by FLEETCOM will all civilians please report to the nearest shelters, if you require assistance ple…"

Avery turned out the AI's voice so as to concentrate on avoiding the now panicked crowds. He didn't know what the hell was going on but he knew it had to be big for the higher-ups to cause a panic, noticing one of the stations many silver service bots helping direct the scared populace Avery couldn't help but thank his lucky stars that they where present. If they weren't there would probably be a full scale riot by now.

It took him nearly ten minutes to navigate the maze of elevated walkways and reach the entrance to the space elevator complex. A slight increase in his breathing was the only sign that he had been running at all. Before he could take off deeper into the complex a voice to his left called out his name.

Turning Avery didn't see anyone he knew, but a flicker of light drew his attention to an inactive holo terminal. The blue crystalline structure at the top of the device glowed and a small semi-transparent Abraham Lincoln appeared.

Old Abe waited a moment to see if the marine was going to speak and seeing that he wasn't Abe decided to take the initiative.

"You are Sergeant Major Avery Johnson?"

"What's it to ya, little man."

"I'll take that as a yes," the AI muttered. "I was told to help you find your ride by a sweat little lass named Cortana."

Johnson couldn't help but smirk at that, "little lady likes to look after me ever since I gave her and her boyfriend a tank."

"Umm…ok," Old Abe raised a single eyebrow but chose not to comment. "Anyways your to report to main loading and unloading."

Avery glanced around at the various hallways branching off from his current position.

"So how do I…" Abe cut him off.

"I _already_ uploaded a map to your PDA and marked the quickest route."

"You did that on purpose didn't you." His response was the powering down of the holo terminal.

Retrieving his PDA from the front pocket of his combat fatigues, frowning at the map already on the screen with a flashing red line indicating the route loading and unloading.

"Jackass," Avery muttered as he took off again.

* * *

**23 minutes earlier**

**0733 hours April 20, 2553 (Military Calendar) / Sol System, Earth, Western Australia, ONI Ordnance Testing Facility B5D.**

The Spartan-II program truly began on September 23, 2517 when under Navel Code 45812 seventy-five children, barely six years old, were conscripted into the program. This far-reaching operation included, but was not limited to, training the seventy-five children into the greatest warriors ever seen and the construction of the MJOLNIR Mark IV armor. The entire project was the brainchild of the brilliant Dr. Catherine Halsey who believed that the Spartans would be the only was to prevent full-scale civil war and at the time _was_ of the opinion that for the sake of the many a few needed to be sacrificed.

Blue eyed and black haired Catherine Halsey was without question a child prodigy, with an IQ over 200 she was already working on her second Doctoral Thesis by the age of fifteen. Therefore, it is no surprise that she has become one of the most renowned and powerful members of the ONI (Office of Navel Intelligence). Most of her work for the UNSC was done in a secret underground military facility located on planet Reach codenamed Castle Base. After its destruction at the hands of the Covenant, she was forced to relocate to a new facility. HIGHCOM quickly offered her ONI Ordnance Testing Facility B5D located a mere 200 miles from HIGHCOM's headquarters located in Sydney, Australia giving them easy access to her; something she greatly detested, but she begrudgingly accepted the offer because the complex did provided ample room and resources to continue her research into Covenant, and more recently, Forerunner technology.

Readjusting her glasses Dr. Halsey rechecked the stability of the MJOLNIR Mark VI fusion power unit. Her diagnostic confirming it was operating within acceptable levels she disconnected her laptop from the miniature fusion power plant and placed it on a nearby workbench. Slowly making her way around the massive half-ton Spartan until she was directly in front of him, "how does it feel Fred?" She asked refusing to address them by the serial number that she herself had giving them when they were only six years old.

"Fine Ma'am," Spartan-104 replied over the armors external speakers.

"Then _please_ join the others on the obstacle course Fred," and by obstacle course she meant an endless maze of tripwires, auto turrets, incendiary devices, and anything else that ONI could think up to throw at the Spartans. Fred snapping a quick salute, a feat fraught with danger in armor capable of turning the slightest movements into bone crushing blows, jogged off to join his fellow Spartans who were already learning the eccentricities of their new MJOLNIR armor. Halsey meanwhile made her way from the testing area and after a short elevator ride entered the obstacle course's main control room, which allowed her to watch five of _her _six remaining Spartans unobstructed, through large reinforced observation windows.

After watching them for several minutes, she pulled herself away from the impressive display of speed and power below her and turned towards the other silent occupant in the control room. Master Chief Spartan-117 standing stoically in his new olive green armor watched the mayhem being wrought by his brothers and sisters upon the ONI designed training course. The most decorated solder in UNSC history surviving over 200 different engagements including the horrific battles of Reach, Earth, Installations 04, and 05, Covenant warriors fortunate enough to survive those cataclysmic encounters returned to spread tales an unstoppable armored Demon drenched in the blood and innards of those foolish enough to stand in its way.

"John what are you doing up here? You should be down there running through the training course with the others."

"Ma'am the course is to get us used to the new abilities of the Mark VI, I am already fully acquainted with the armor" Spartan-117 replied never turning away from the Spartans below.

Her ageing blue eyes bored into the side of the Spartan's helmet as she searched its golden reflective visor for some invisible sign of the Spartan's true feelings. "That's merely an excuse John and we both know it. The real reason you're up here is that…" she paused considering her next words very carefully, her voice dropping to a barley audible whisper, "…you're afraid."

The Spartan's head snapped away from the violence below as he brought his full attention to bear on his maker. "Ma'am I'm…" Raising a single wrinkled hand was all that was required of Dr. Halsey to silence the Spartan towering over her.

"I'm not speaking of the fear a soldier feels on the battlefield when their about to die. I'm talking about your fear of losing them again. I can't even imagine how hurt and lonely you must have felt after Reach, all your brothers and sisters lost to you on that one tragic day. On Halo, you had the mission to distract you from the pain you were feeling, but now you have no enemy bearing down on you to keep you from thinking about the pain you felt that day. You know as well as I that it is only a matter of time before the Covenant's little internal mess gets sorted out and they return to Earth and try to finish what they started over thirty years ago." She returned her attention from him to watching the Spartans below them. "It's true that we could all very well die tomorrow or the day after but John you have been giving a second chance to be with at least some of your family, even if it is only for a short time, are you really going to waste it?"

The control room's occupants fell silent, one thinking the other waiting. A tiny smile graced the doctor's wrinkled face as she felt John move past her heading off to join his remaining brethren leaving the doctor alone to her own thoughts. _Enjoy it while you can John there's so little time left for us._

The room's holotank sprung to life as a slender blue female avatar with long hair and skin composed of swirling computer code appeared over its crystalline surface. "Ma'am sorry to bother you but Lord Hood wants the Spartans up here in orbit."

"Why?" Dr. Halsey asked pushing her glasses further up her nose.

"O nothing much." Cortana replied offhandedly, "just an large fleet baring down on Earth."

* * *

**6 minutes earlier**

**0730 hours April 20, 2553 (Military Calendar) / Sol System, Earth Orbit, ****Cairo Station(UNSCDF-ODA142)****, Bridge.**

The bridge of UNSC Cairo Station was truly massive in comparison to the cramped standard bridges of UNSC warships. Its ceiling was composed of massive thirty-inch thick plate glass windows that allowed one an unhindered view into space. Two raised platforms each supporting a pair of AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun turrets overlooked the colossal room providing marine fire teams an elevated position with overlapping fields of fire from which to defend the Bridge from Covenant boarding parties. Over thirty individual combat stations used for information gathering and keeping the UNSC fleet in proper formation, made up the 'rear' portion of the bridge. The forward half was dedicated to a single massive tactile map that keep track of the entire sol system it's information being constantly updated by the rest of the Cairo Bridge crew. It was in front of this massive screen that stood the highest-ranking UNSC officer, Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood.

Admiral Hood meticulously studied the constantly changing status of his fleet, as it protected the last bastion of Humanity, Earth. Only six months ago the Prophet of Regret's near suicidal attack on the Earth defense grid nearly broke the back of what was left of the UNSC navy. Twenty ships, two defense platforms, a major Earth city and well over a million inhabitants gone in a single bloody day. There was no doubt in Hood's mind that if the Covenant hadn't broken into civil war then Earth would be long gone. Nevertheless, it would only be a matter of time before the Covenant sorted out its internal problems and returned to Earth in _full_ force, whether it was lead by the Elites or the Brutes made little difference to Hood.

Hood hadn't giving up hope yet however as there where several things working is his favor not the least of which was the fact that the Covenant were destroying their own fleets. The hole in the Earth's defensives was also nearly gone now that the replacements for the Malta and Athens, which were destroyed in Regret's haphazard attack, were nearly completed. Furthering his hope was the simple fact that finally, after over thirty years of seeing the technology used against him; the UNSC had pushed aside the final roadblocks that prevented them from shielding their ships as the Covenant did. Unfortunately only the largest of the UNSC warships-carriers and cruisers-had the power requirements to host a shielding system. Four of his seven Marathon-class cruisers, were docked in shipyards located on both Earth and Mars undergoing the badly needed upgrades. An additional thirty UNSC light warships- destroys frigates- were also grounded for badly need refits. Lord Hood definitely did not enjoy having so many of his cruisers grounded but without the new shields they may as well have been made of paper when going up against the Covenant. All he needed was a little time and Earth may just have the strength to weather the coming storm.

Ear-shattering alarms shook the Admiral out of his deliberations.

"Admiral Hood sensor buoy 421 is picking up a massive fleet in sector 61. There are too many ships for the buoy to get an accurate reading on their numbers, but there are at least five hundred capital ships."

"WHAT? Why didn't the slipspace probes of the Democritus detect the Covenant approach?" Hood demanded from his subordinates, horrified at the thought of over five hundred Covenant capital ships bearing down on Earth.

"Sir there was an energy burst when the ships appeared but it does not match those that are giving of when ships exit Shaw-Fujikawa Space. Sir I have just established a link with asteroid mining platform 61, they are aiming their external cameras towards the unknown fleet."

Hood turned towards the tactical screen as it switched to a live feed showing the unknown fleet. As he studied the images he conclude that unless the Covenant had abandoned their oddly purple color scheme and rebuilt the design of their ships from the ground up then this fleet did not come from the Covenant. "Could it be a fleet of refuges from one of destroyed colonies?"

"Sir I believe we know who they are," a strong feminine voice answered confidently from behind the Admiral.

Turning he came face to face with Commander Miranda Keyes daughter of the dead war hero Jacob Keyes. "Commander, you recognize those ships."

"Yes sir," Commander Keyes said, "Those larger ships are definitely the same type we encountered five months ago, they called themselves the Twelve Lands of Kobol sir."

"Commander do you think their intentions are hostile?"

The hole panel beside the Admiral flared to life as Cortana interjected herself into the conversation. "Doubtful sir. No one brings that many ships on a peace mission but we won't know their true intentions until we talk to them. Also Commander I have gone over the transmissions from the Cerberus and I believe they are the Twelve _Colonies_ of Kobol, not lands as I first suspected"

"Very well then, lets not take any chances. Cortana single the fleet alert condition one, I want Fleet Admiral Harper to form his battle group around the Cairo. Commander you had better get to your ship."

Hope you liked the new first chapter, had to alter it to fit the prolog and added some stuff.

Third chapter may take a while as I have to go back over it and alter some stuff while adding in some things I skiped the first time.


End file.
